DISCLAIMER: I know on some other alternate universe I own Gundam Wing, but alas not in this universe. ^__^ THANKS to ALL who READ!!!! DOUBLY THANKS to ANYONE who READS and REVIEWS!!! I love reviews! Which has brought up this little thought…Since this is CHAPTER FIVE, I was wondering if people would be so kind and give me seven more reviews so I can have fifty all together for Chapter 5. ^__^ Of course, it'd be nice to get more than 7 reviews but I don't want to push! ~_^ Anyways, hope everyone likes!
'italics' indicates thought-speak
Joy To My Life
Chapter 5: All We Need is Light.
- Mercy Sisters Hospital, Earth - Real Time -
A sigh escaped from Relena's lips as her eyes snapped open and she shot forward in her hospital bed. "I know…"
Heero stared concernedly at her. "Relena, what?"
She fixed her gaze on her fiancé, ignoring the sweat beads that had formed on her brow and her mussed up hair. She took a few deep breaths before speaking in a whispered tone. "I know where Bethany is." She gripped onto Heero's hand, her eyes darting to and fro. "Get everyone here. I know where she is." With that Relena shivered and lay back down, placing her hands over her face.
Heero was about to protest, but Relena grabbed his hand and looked at him pleadingly. "Hurry, Heero. We don't have much time."
"Ok Relena." With that he gently kissed her on the forehead and went outside to inform the others.
"Relena what do you mean you know where they are?" Hilde asked softly, trying not to sound sceptical.
Relena just nodded impatiently. She was waiting for Quatre and Dorothy who were on a different level of the hospital. She could feel Trowa's intense glare on her. They had just informed her that Catherine and Midii had been kidnapped as well. A whirl of feelings bubbled in her, as the dream replayed itself in her mind. She hoped with all her heart that she was right. For Dorothy's and Trowa's and everyone's sake, she hoped she was right.
"Hi Relena."
Relena flicked her head to whoever said that. She saw Dorothy and Quatre walk into her hospital room. Now everyone was there. She shifted slightly on the bed, looking at Heero for strength. She breathed in deeply before speaking, "I know where they are." No one spoke as they waited for her to continue. Ignoring the doubt that was creeping up on her, she forged on, "I keep seeing this place in my dreams. It's Romefeller Headquarters. I know it is. Dorothy, its one of the conference rooms." She nodded eagerly to Dorothy. Subconsciously running a hand over her hair, partly because of her frayed nerves and partly because she knew how 'wild' she looked. "I kept seeing these two people arguing there. And every time I would get close enough to see their faces, a green haze would overcome me. The dream would repeat itself over and over. But then something different happened at the end. I saw a building. It looked more like a fortress/castle. It was in a grey place with weird tree stumps surrounding it." Relena breathed in deeply again. "They're there. I know it." Heero's grip on her hand tightened, as most of the group realised what she was describing.
"How can you be so sure that they are in this place?" asked Wufei.
Relena just fixed him with an uneasy look. "I'm - I'm not positively sure but I - I just feel that they're there." She looked at Dorothy for help and she got it.
"Relena…This place…this place you see would be a perfect description of Subspace and the fortress we fought the Darkness in…"
"So what are we going to do now or do I really not want to know?" Duo asked, already resigned to the fact that they would probably be risking their necks again to save the world.
"It's the only lead we have right now…I have an estate an hour away from here. We could be in Subspace in little over an hour." Dorothy said, checking her watch before giving a questioning look to everyone in the room. Trowa would definitely come, along with Duo and Hilde. So would Wufei and Sally. 'And I'm always here.' She smiled slightly at Quatre before Heero's voice interrupted her thoughts.
"We're staying here." Indicating himself and Relena.
She was about to nod in agreement when Relena spoke up again.
"NO!"
The shout had stopped everyone from shuffling out of the door. "No." Relena said in a calmer voice. "I will not stay behind again. This is my idea. I'm coming with you. I have the Green Power for God's sake!" She haphazardly pushed the blankets away, unsteadily standing on the cold tiled floor barefoot.
"Relena - "
"No Heero. I'm going. The last time you went without me…" Relena shook her head, staring defiantly at everyone. "Well? Come on. Lets go."
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- Subspace - Real Time -
Rubbing her tired eyes with grubby hands, Bethany leaned her forehead on cool gundanium casing. She was on her knees, fixing the components of the time machine. More specifically she was making the pods where Catherine, Midii and a Black Council member would be placed and their energy and soul would be sucked out of them to power the machine. They were silver in colour, with a small viewing window. It wasn't very roomy; a person would only be able to stand in it. On the side were a series of buttons and a lever. The doors automatically locked when pressure was added in the pod and it wouldn't open until the machine had been used and turned off. Bethany leant back onto her legs. Three days had passed in Subspace since Catherine and Midii had been brought here. She looked wearily at her guards. Two of the Locandro brothers stood there, watching her with a mix of hate and lust. She shook involuntarily and turned her attention to the viewing pools that showed her grandparents and older brother. They were still safe, for how long, Bethany didn't know.
'Where are you Dorothy?' she thought as she slowly pieced together the pod. She had already completed two. The third one was nearly finished. After she finished it, all she had to do was to connect the third pod to the time machine and it would work. Well that's what she told Mario. In truth she had left vital part out of the equation. No matter what time he would set, the machine was set to go somewhere else. She had put it in 'random', like a CD player on 'shuffle' the machine would end up in any time. She had tried to sabotage the pods, since they were the truly dangerous components of the machine but Mario had figured this out as well and had placed a sort of magical illness to her and every time she didn't follow the blueprints, she would cough up blood. After this happened several times, Mario had informed her that every time she strayed, the Black Power would crush parts of her internal organs. The Red Power she had in her was holding back death by massive internal bleeding but if she pushed it anymore she would pass out and…Well she didn't really want to think about dying now.
"Get up!" Adam Locandro yelled at her, causing her to jump; her heart thumping in her ears. He didn't wait for her as he roughly grabbed her and dragged her down a blur of rooms and corridors in the dim light. Bethany was too tired to fight back. Hell, she was too tired to even speak. They reached her cell, and he forcefully shoved her forward, narrowly avoiding knocking her unconscious when her head thumped against the opposite wall. He grinned evilly at her before slamming the door shut.
Bethany just fell to the ground in a heap, her eyes closed, her mind already asleep. They would get her again in an hour. Maybe less. After nine days of countless beatings, pressure and the hopelessness of the situation; Bethany could feel her spirit - her resolve - shatter. A tear slid down her face and landed silently on the cold, dank floor.
Mario Luciano Sr hummed tunelessly as he reached the cell of one of the Gatekeepers. He dissipated the magic around it and the door swung open, allowing dim light to stream through. "It's time for you to be useful." He smirked as he held the girl in mid air using the Black Power. Unlike his minions he had absolute control over his powers. He didn't bother physically hurting them. Why do that when you could destroy them with a look? He smirked as the girl was bodily thrown to the floor and was dragged behind him by invisible hands. They reached the chosen destination and he threw the girl next to the other Gatekeeper.
Midii bit down hard on her tongue, drawing blood as she felt and heard her arm snap. A broken arm was the least of her problems. A few metres away from her, was something that looked like a pool. She struggled valiantly to her knees and saw Cathie stir next to her. "Cathie. Cathie!"
"Urgh…Midii?" Catherine rolled onto her side, pushing upwards on the palms of her hands. When she saw Midii's injury she immediately forgot about the pain her body was in and tried to help Midii.
"Oohh…How touching." With that Mario raised his hand towards them and Catherine felt a tightening around her neck as an invisible force pushed her backwards.
"AHH!" She screamed as she was dragged backwards into the pool of whirling colours.
Midii tried to grab onto Cathie but was flung back against the wall, her arm dangling at a dangerous angle. Cathie continued to scream until she was fully submerged into the pool that was now glowing different colours.
"Cathie!" Midii tried again to move forward but a force was pinning her against the wall. "No! Cathie!"
Mario laughed and raised his other hand above his shoulder. Midii stopped screaming in mid-word when she saw Catherine. She was dangling in mid-air over the pool, glowing every conceivable colour. Mario flicked his wrist and Catherine hurtled towards the opposite wall, landing with a thud but the glow didn't lessen. He grinned at Midii.
"Once you get into that pool, your arm will be as good as new." He laughed again. "But you'll be dead soon after."
Before Midii had a chance to breath out she was flung into the pool headfirst. She expected cold water to rush up into her nose and mouth but that wasn't the sensation. It wasn't cold. It wasn't even water. She could see it clearly, colours whirling all around her. A sense of peace and calm came over her as it washed over her.
Mario stared in surprise at the pool. The colours were amalgamating into one colour. Gold.
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- Luxemburg, Earth - Real Time -
Dorothy hid her surprise at finding the portal to Subspace open. Everyone was in her country estate's underground base.
"The Black Council must have opened all the portals, since they're the only family left."
"Ok. Question?" Duo waved his arms about, getting everyone's attention. "We're fighting the Black Council but they're not the Darkness, right?"
Dorothy nodded. "The Black Council, from what I know from the ancient scriptures, are superior in stealth, in being able to hide and attack you by surprise. They draw their powers from the dark but not from the Darkness." Looking around the room at the confused faces she sighed and continued. "The Darkness is nothingness. It is what would be after the End. The Black Council is night. Their powers are superior in the Night, which is dark. They can control the night, but their counterbalance was Gold, which had Light, hence the world could never be placed in eternal Night because of the Gold Power." This seemed to confuse everyone even more but Duo picked up on the important part.
"But you don't have the Gold Power. Everyone who did have the Gold Power got blown up! What the hell are we going to use to fight against them?!" Duo didn't like the cloudy look that entered Dorothy's eyes.
She searched the underground base, mumbling something, turning towards the screens and punching in a few keys on the control panel.
"What was that? I didn't quite hear you." Duo replied, already having a feeling of what Dorothy was about to say.
One of the screens slid sideways to reveal a room with enough artillery and ammunition to blow up a colony. Dorothy turned back to everyone. "I don't know, Duo. The last time Council members fought each other they nearly destroyed the world. AND back then both sides had the ability to wield the Power." She motioned to herself and Relena. "I can't seem to control the flow of the Red Power and I doubt Relena can wield the Green Power freely. Therefore we're going to have to fight like humans." She pointed to the artillery room. "We'll need three people in the control room, in case…in case something goes wrong so you can close all the portals."
'Dorothy no! There's got to be a better way.' Quatre gave her a pleading look.
'Quatre, there isn't any other way besides to fight them. They took Bethany. They tried to kill us. Now they have Catherine and Midii for some reason I don't know about!' She huffed angrily, ignoring the others who were watching the two have a silent argument like morbid spectators.
'It would be near suicide to just go into Subspace without any plans at all.' Quatre reasoned.
Sighing again, but the anger was leaving her, Dorothy replied, 'True. We should go in there with a plan.' Turning her attention back to everyone else, she was about to repeat what she had said before when Sally spoke up.
"What just happened there?"
Dorothy closed her eyes and rubbed her fore and middle fingers against the bridge of her nose.
"We can communicate telepathically." Quatre gave a sheepish smile.
"Explain everything later." Trowa interjected. Staring at the whirling portal with cold, hard eyes.
Duo muttered something about being the first to know that when Dorothy finally repeated her statement.
"We are going to need three people to stay behind."
"I'll stay."
Everyone stared in shock at Wufei. "What?" He huffed. "I'm the strongest back up you'll have."
Sally rolled her eyes and stifled a giggle. "I'll stay back too. I've operated one of these before."
Hilde nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Me too. It'll be better if someone who knows how to use this," She waved her hand about the lab, "equipment. We'd be better prepared." Duo gave her an affectionate squeeze and was about to whisper something in her ear when a 'no' was grunted.
"Heero!"
"No, Relena. You're not going to Subspace." Heero glared at his fiancée. Why was she trying to get herself killed?
Relena glared back at him. "Heero. I have the Green Power - "
"Which you don't know how to use."
"Yes but - "
"No Relena."
Relena opened and closed her mouth for a few moments, before taking a step towards him, never breaking the eye contact. "Yes Heero." With that she pushed him with all her might, dashing to the portal and jumping through it. Heero recovered quickly from the shock of Relena bodily pushing him and ran after her, disappearing into the swirling portal.
"Well. That was different." Duo said to no one in particular.
Dorothy swore under her breath. "Hurry everyone! We need to get into the portal now before a minute goes by! If it does we won't be in the same place as Heero and Relena!" A mild rush ensued as the four left to go into Subspace grabbed a weapon, a communicator and jumped into the portal.
"Is it just me or do I feel impending doom breathing down my neck?" Hilde murmured to Sally.
Sally just shook her head and sat on one of the swivel chairs, smiling at Wufei who was trying to figure out the control panel.
"Just try not to press any of the red blinking buttons, Wufei."
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- Subspace - Real Time -
Mario took a step back as the Pool was now completely Gold. Catherine stood up shakily, as the power now stored in her responded to the Gold emanating from the Pool. A sense of happiness overrode the pain she had been feeling. Then she saw Midii. Catherine dimly wondered if this was how the Goddess Aphrodite was born. Midii rose up from the Pool, a cloak of Gold 'water' surrounded her; light was literally pouring out of her. The room was a brilliant Gold colour, as Midii opened her eyes, her normally blue orbs a dazzling shade of Gold. Catherine felt like she was in a trance but a Black force hurtled towards Midii, causing the place to blink rapidly between Dark and Light. The explosion of two different Powers threw Catherine backwards but not enough to throw her against the wall.
Mario cursed. 'Don't be stupid', he thought, 'Hitting the Pool will just cause my Powers to rebound.' Gritting his teeth, and spitting in Midii's direction, he stood up about to teleport for reinforcements when he realised he still had one ace up the hole. Gathering up all his Power he aimed it at Midii who was gathering Power around herself for a shield, at the last second when he held too much Power he shifted sharply shooting it at Catherine. Midii realising too late, desperately shot out Gold Power in Catherine's direction. Another explosion of Power shook the foundations of the fortress, Mario being thrown back while Midii remained unscathed since the Pool made her Power almost invincible. Both looked in the direction of where Catherine was. The wall had crumbled along with four walls behind it. No trace of Catherine. Midii stared in horror, as Mario laughed before disappearing.
"No…" Midii fell back into the Pool, the brilliant Gold colour turning darker, as Midii's mood dictated. "No…" Cathie was gone. It was all her fault. Oh God, Trowa. I'm so sorry. She began to sob, the Pool getting darker still. She needed to get out of here. Away from this place. Some place safe…The Pool whooshed slightly, Gold Power filling Midii until she disappeared completely.
Relena couldn't believe she had done that to Heero. Well there was a first for everything. She stumbled slightly in the dimly lit corridor, a hand leant against the walls for balance. She reached an alcove and she leant against the wall to catch her breath from the flat out running she had endured. There was something in this place that was calling her. Beckoning her to enter. The headaches had disappeared, now that she had stopped running.
"Relena."
Standing in the entrance of the alcove was Heero, no sign of strain from running after her. 'Mental note to self: do exercise.' Relena thought as Heero glared at her.
"Come on. We're going back." He didn't wait for her reply as he lifted her up in a fireman's carry and walked back to where they had run from.
"Heero! Put me down!" She thumped him on the chest, which he ignored dutifully but then she tried wriggling out of his grasp and he didn't want to hurt her so he placed her back on the ground.
"Why are you doing this, Relena?"
Relena closed her eyes; she didn't want to see Heero's hurt expression. He only wanted to protect her and she was running into portals because of some hallucinatory dream she kept having. She opened them again, an apologising smile on her face. "I'm sorry Heero. It's just that…I - I feel like I should be here. It's difficult to explain but - " She stopped in mid-sentence as her headaches came back in full force. Her ability to stand deserted her and she collapsed, Heero collecting her in his arms.
"Relena! Relena!" He grunted, as he shifted her dead weight into a carry position again. He walked briskly, retracing his steps back to the portal…and nearly walked into a wall. Heero's eyes widened as the corridor's walls shifted all around him. He turned 360 degrees before heading towards the only exit that was left, his grip on Relena tightening ever so slightly.
A desk was thrown against a wall. Mario closed his eyes and the desk exploded. He had now lost both Gatekeepers. 'Stupid!' He'd sent four Black Council members into the Pool to get that Gold brat but she had vanished. They couldn't sense her. It was painful to sense a Power that could makes yours null and void. "The machine."
Mario's body calmed as he heard the voices of his master. Yes, the time machine. He needed to get Power to operate it. Simple. Get three of his idiotic cronies in the pods. He knew the machine hadn't been completed yet. A thought of using Bethany to power up the machine crossed his mind.
"No."
Mario shook his head. Of course. Right. If he brought Bethany into the Pool, the scenario that had been played out with that blasted Gatekeeper would happen again. Only it would be the Red Power. He didn't have the Power to fight that. He needed all four of the other Powers to counter the Red. He smirked at that. I shouldn't have blown them all up then. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Then he felt it. A weird sensation washed over him. The voices of his master had gone strangely quiet. Dorothy was here. They had finally come.
"Oh crap." The three with Duo silently agreed on his statement. Behind them the portal had vanished, gone to a different part of Subspace and in front of them were seven corridors. "E-ni, me-ni, my-ni, mo." Duo pointed to the corridor closest to his left. "I'll go down here." He ran a few metres down the corridor, speaking into his communicator, "You guys can hear me right?"
Trowa answered for the group and pointed to the corridor closest to his right. "I'll take that one." He nodded to Dorothy and Quatre before jogging down into the dimly lit corridor.
'I guess we'll go down the middle one.' Quatre laced his fingers around Dorothy's as they walked cautiously down the hallway.
'This place is reeking with the old powers.' Dorothy looked at her now glowing red hand. 'I wonder if Bethany can sense me?'
Quatre squeezed Dorothy's other glowing hand. 'If she can sense you, the Black Council would probably be able to sense you as well.'
'I need to figure out how to use these powers!' She sighed in frustration as the red glow disappeared, the corridor darkening once again.
'When you healed Cathie, what were you thinking about?' asked Quatre suddenly.
Dorothy was about to answer when the long dark corridor suddenly narrowed, the walls around them slowly moving towards them.
'Run!'
Trowa felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He whirled around pointing his gun to whoever was there. He almost dropped it when he saw Midii, glowing gold and shaking in a foetal position on the floor.
"Midii! Midii! Are you ok?" He asked softly, lifting her up gently, so he could see her face better. A lump developed in his throat, as he saw her face, streaked with tears, her eyes were swollen and red with a strange gold tint around them. She stared up into his piercing emerald eyes and sobbed. He hugged her to his chest, Midii grabbing his clothing tightly to her as she cried. It took Trowa a few moments to realise that she was mumbling something into his shirt. Gently distancing him from her, so he could hear what she was saying, he stared at her beautiful face, no matter how pained it was.
"What is it Midii?"
Midii's eyes grew wide in fear. Fresh tears ran down her smooth face as she mumbled, broken sobs causing her to hiccup what she was saying. "I'm - sor - sorry. I'm so - sorry. Trowa. Trow-a. I -m sorry." She leaned back into Trowa's embrace, sobbing. The Gold Power had dulled around her, as grief overtook her. The Power had amplified her emotions; she had only known Cathie for a few weeks but she didn't just cry for her. All the pain she had felt over the years - losing her family, betraying people that cared for her, becoming someone she loathed, poured out of her, the Power feeding on her emotions. She was apologising for everything and everyone.
Trowa rocked her to and fro, wordlessly comforting her; he had lost himself when he touched her. Her effect on him was so strong. 'What would Cathie do in this situation?' He thought, when reality hit him. Cathie. His sister. Where was she?
"Midii, Midii. Come on. We have to find Cathie." He whispered in her ear, stroking her hair comfortingly.
The sounds of weeping stopped so abruptly, for a spilt second Trowa thought Midii had stopped breathing. He cradled her head in his hands, searching her face for answers. He could see it in her eyes. No. His mind repeated that one word over and over. His hands dropping to his side as he stared into those blue orbs in disbelief. No. No.
Midii wiped the bothersome tears away from her face. "Trowa. I'm-I'm sorry. I couldn't save her."
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- Luxemburg, Earth - Real Time -
"What is it reading?" Sally and Hilde turned to look at what Wufei was pointing at. Where Wufei was standing, the screen had begun to show an oscilloscope, the line jumping up and down in an alarming fashion.
"Oh no, this can't be good…" murmured Hilde as all of the screens showed the oscilloscope.
A hissing sound originated from the portal. Then a high-pitched tone vibrated the room. A loud crack was heard and the screen closest to the portal exploded, broken glass spitting everywhere.
"Get down!" Wufei yelled, lying on top of Sally to protect her from the shower of broken glass.
"The portal's closing!" Hilde yelled above the noise, her hands firmly placed between her ears. Wufei and Sally stared in shock as the portal hissed to a close. The sound subsided, leaving a ringing in their ears and all the electrical equipment was either on fire or sparking up. Smoke rose to the ceiling and the sprinklers turned on, drenching everything in water.
Hilde grabbed the communicator she had placed in her pocket and hurriedly spoke into it. "Duo! Duo! Can you hear me?! Duo!"
The only reply was static. She tried again and again, ignoring the small cuts she had received from flying broken glass.
Sally surveyed the wreck that was an underground base, with a calm she had acquired through years of training. "Is anything working?" The sprinklers automatically turned off, as the smoke dissipated. She walked carefully through the glass and examined the control panels. Small sparks appeared here and there and the screens were definitely not going to be working.
"We need to open the portal." Wufei's obsidian eyes bore into her.
"I agree. Do you have any bright ideas?" She asked, sucking her finger that had just received a little jolt of electricity.
Wufei came up to her and held her hand. "Be careful, onna." A small smile lit both their faces.
"Is anything working?" Hilde asked, giving up on trying to contact the others through the communicator.
"Well let's find out." With that the trio glumly looked at the control panels and began to work.
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- Subspace - Real Time -
Heero walked down another long, dark corridor. He had been walking for hour an hour already and Relena was still unconscious. 'Damn! I'm going around in circles!' he swore under his breath and headed towards another alcove. He carefully shifted Relena in his arms, ignoring the numbness he felt at the tips of his fingers. He gazed at her sleeping form, mentally trying to coax her out of her slumber. 'Come on Relena. Please, wake up.'
Relena stirred slightly in his arms. Heero gently placed her on the ground, cradling her head in his lap. "Relena. Relena, please wake up." the tone of his voice uncharacteristically soft.
Relena's eyes fluttered opened, cloudy aquamarine looking up at alert Prussian blue. "Heero? I - I."
"Shh. Can you stand?"
She nodded drowsily, using Heero as a crutch; his arm around her waist and holding onto her hand that was draped over his shoulders. They slowly made their way down the corridor, Relena leaning heavily against Heero; the headaches had dulled but she focussed all her energy at the spot in front of her.
"Well, well. What do we have here?"
The headaches began to throb again as Heero stood in front of her, protecting her from the voice. Heero glared at the black-clad man. On the way to Dorothy's estate he had memorised the faces of all the Black Council members. It wasn't Alessio; it was Steven Locandro.
The man smirked at him as he gathered Power around him. "This is going to be fun."
It was very bright. She shifted her weight to her side and pushed upwards with her arms and then hands. She stood on shaky legs but still walked forward a step. All she could see was a lot of light. Her eyes adjusted to the brightness allowing her to open her eyes a little instead of squinting. Another step forward and her legs were steadying. She didn't know where she was going but moving felt better than waiting for someone to find her. She stumbled on top of something on the ground, causing her to fall forward, her arms saving her from slamming her nose down on the floor. She turned to look at what had tripped her legs and screamed. Catherine was looking at a dead body.
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Person who wants to say 'hi!' :
Did anyone really believe I had killed Catherine? ^__^ That was a tribute to Jaid Skywalker! Hehe…People go read her fics!!! I'd also like to thank the Academy! Really I do! ~_^ THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL WHO READ AND REVIEW!!!! I have a break from Uni so I can write more! (hehe…hopefully!) Well you know the drill! C&C R&R flames and e-mail EXTREMELY WELCOME!!! Bye! ^__^ Once again, THANKS ANNE!